The President of the Tunisian Bar Association (ONAT), Hatem Meziou, said the Bar supports efforts to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the assassination of the martyr Mohamed Zouari, who was killed by silent gun shots in front of his residence in Sfax on December 15, 2016.
During a press conference held in Tunis on Wednesday on the occasion of ONAT’s commemoration of the 7th anniversary of the assassination of aeronautical engineer Mohamed Zouari, the President of the Bar Association stated that speaking the truth on this matter requires courage. He pointed to the inherently political and sovereign nature of the issue, which concerns the inviolability of national territory and one of our “martyred heroes”.
Seven years have passed since Zouari’s assassination and yet no decision or verdict has been issued in the case, the president of the Bar Association lamented.
He claimed that the judiciary has not shown ‘an extra measure of boldness and independence to uncover the truth, the whole truth, in t
his matter.’
It would have been more appropriate to give such cases the necessary attention, ‘considering that they violate national sovereignty and the independence of the state,’ he noted.
Meziou added that the case is currently in the appeals phase against the first instance decision, noting that no direct charges have been brought against the Israeli secret service and its officials, despite their “obvious and unsuspected involvement in the murder and violation of national territory”.
On the contrary, they only pointed the finger at “some individuals”, acting as mere executioners, who contributed to the perpetration of this assassination.
Mezoui affirmed that Tunisia, represented by the President, the Government and the people, has taken a firm and unwavering principled position in support of the Palestinian cause, not only in words but also in deeds. He stressed that the Bar Association is determined to uncover the truth in this case, as well as in other pending cases that reveal a violation of natio
nal sovereignty and security.
On another note, Meziou stressed that the Bar Association is determined to track down war criminals and Zionists who are waging a genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
He revealed that preparations are underway to soon submit a “substantial dossier” to the International Criminal Court documenting the crimes and atrocities committed on a large scale by the Zionist entity.
The defence lawyer in Zouari’s assassination case, Abderraouf Ayadi, stated that this case, which is being dealt with under the anti-terrorism law, “is not ready to be resolved”.
He pointed out that several parties involved have not yet been heard, and that three people subject to arrest warrants have managed to leave the country.
In 2018, the Ministry of Interior announced that it had identified the real names of the perpetrators of the assassination of aerospace engineer Mohamed Zouari, adding that significant sums of money prepared abroad had been paid to carry out this operation.
The min
istry said that one of the perpetrators was named “Christopher”, of Austrian nationality, while the other two were of Bosnian origin, Alvir Sarak and Alan Kanzic.
The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, confirmed that engineer Mohamed Zouari was a member of its armed wing, known as the “Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades”.
He was one of the officials responsible for developing its drone programme.
Hamas blamed Israeli intelligence for Zouari’s assassination.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse